Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio, leading a mass at the St Peter's basilica at the Vatican on March 14, 2013, a day after his election

China has warned the Vatican to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and called on the newly elected pope to adopt a “practical and flexible” attitude.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday that Beijing hoped that the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis I, create conditions to improve China-Vatican relations.

Hua said that China had "two basic principles in dealing with relations with the Vatican," which has been cut since 1951.

"It should sever its so-called diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognize the Chinese government as the sole legal representative of all of China,” she said.

"The Vatican should not interfere in China's internal affairs, including under the pretext of religion," she added.

China has an estimated 12 million Roman Catholics, and appoints bishops without papal approval.

On March 13, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was named the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the nickname of Pope Francis I.

Pope Francis replaced Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned on February 28, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so. He stated that the reason for his decision was his deteriorating health due to old age.

Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou plans to attend the inaugural Mass of the newly elected Pope in the Vatican, officials say, in a move that will likely provoke outrage from China.

"After the new Pope was elected, the foreign ministry initiated a plan for the president to visit the Vatican," Taiwan’s Vice Foreign Minister Vanessa Shih said on Friday.

"This is in line with the diplomatic status of the two sides," she added.

The Taiwanese president congratulated Pope Francis shortly after he was elected as the new pontiff, saying Taiwan was "honored to be a partner in peace" with the Vatican.

The Vatican is the only European nation that maintains diplomatic relationships with Taiwan instead of China, which considers Taiwan as its breakaway province.

China cut ties with the Vatican in 1951 and set up its own Catholic Church, appointing bishops without papal approval.

On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called on the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis I, to adopt a “practical and flexible” attitude in order to improve China-Vatican relations.

Hua said Beijing wanted the Vatican to “sever its so-called diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognize the Chinese government as the sole legal representative of all of China.”

In 2005, then Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian visited the Vatican for the funeral of the late Pope John Paul II. The visit, however, led the angered Beijing to file a protest to Italy for issuing a visa to Chen.

On March 13, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was named the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the nickname of Pope Francis I.

Pope Francis replaced Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned on February 28, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to do so. He stated that the reason for his decision was his deteriorating health due to old age.

Quote:The Beijing government has set two conditions for reestablishing the relations: that the Holy See "not interfere in religious matters in China" and that, in line with Beijing's One-China policy, it break the ties with the Taipei government. The Holy See has indicated that it would have no difficulty about the second condition, but requires discussion about the concrete meaning of the first. The PRC government's position is that bishops should be appointed by itself; the Holy See's position is that bishops can only be appointed by the Pope.

The Catholic sex abuse cases are a series of convictions, trials and investigations into allegations of child sexual abuse crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of Roman Catholic orders against children as young as 3 years old with the majority between the ages of 11 and 14.[1][2][3] These cases included anal sex, and oral penetration, and there have been criminal prosecutions of the abusers and civil lawsuits against the church's dioceses and parishes. Many of the cases span several decades and are brought forward years after the abuse occurred. Cases have also been brought against members of the Catholic hierarchy who did not report sex abuse allegations to the legal authorities. lihat aja lanjutannya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholi...ex_abuse_cases